


More than what we are now

by smithel



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 3x14 promo spoilers, F/M, FitzSimmons kisses, Fluff and Angst, I haven't actually seen the episode, Mostly Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-30 08:16:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6415918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smithel/pseuds/smithel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitz finds out May is giving Simmons combat training, and his reaction isn't what Simmons expects.</p>
            </blockquote>





	More than what we are now

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever S.H.I.E.L.D. fic, but parts of it have been floating around in my head for ages, and when I saw the spoilers for 3x14 it all kind of snapped into place. I hope it's ok - I've been binging on season 1 eps like crazy lately while waiting for each new episode so hopefully FitzSimmons aren't too out of character.
> 
> Please please comment!

Fitz was having a relatively quiet day in the lab until May appeared. He enjoyed the quiet in the middle of the day when most of the science staff went for lunch, leaving him and Simmons alone for awhile. He was toying with some new ideas for modifications for Coulson’s hand, jotting down ideas to run by Simmons later. Simmons, for her part, was taking advantage of Daisy’s absence to start quietly looking into the possibilities of creating a vaccine against terrigenesis. It wasn’t that it was unheard of for May to come down and see them, but it wasn’t exactly an everyday event either – so Fitz looked up with interest when he heard her voice.

“Just wanted to make sure you’re still on for this evening,” May said, stopping by Simmons’ workbench.

“Oh! Yes, of course. I’ll get changed and meet you before dinner.”

Never one to waste words, May left silently. Fitz considered leaving it be, wondering whether it was really his business, but then they were working hard on being friends again and there had been a time when nothing in Jemma’s life was off-limits, so he decided to just ask. Besides, they’d had an arrangement ( _not_ a date) to (entirely platonically) watch some of the season of Doctor Who Jemma had missed while stuck on Maveth.

“You have something going on with May then this evening?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t be long, we’ll still be able to watch Doctor Who – May’s just agreed to start giving me combat training and arms training.” Fitz blinked at that.

“What, hand to hand combat like she did with Daisy?”

“Mm hm,” agreed Simmons, turning back to her work. Fitz, though, stayed staring towards her, mouth agape. A moment later Simmons turned back to see him still gazing at her. Her brows furrowed in irritation. “Well why shouldn’t I? I’m just as capable as anyone else, and now that there’s so few agents at all I need to be more secure in the field. Besides, it’s absolutely ridiculous that I have to keep waiting around for a man to save me. I am not a damsel in distress, Fitz. I should be able to take care of myself. I mean, you don’t have any more training than I do, and you’re always having to swoop in to save me. It’s humiliating.”

Fitz, appalled at the direction her rant was going, walked towards her as soon as she started talking, waving his hands. “No no no no no,” he insisted, as soon as she paused. “Of course you’re not some damsel in distress. You’re the most capable person I know. And let’s face it, of the two of us you are definitely the braver. And cleverer, but don’t tell anyone I said so.” Once he was standing in front of her, he risked running a hand down her arm. “How could you ever think that? Or think that I thought it?”

“You keep having to risk yourself to save me,” Jemma pointed out. “And I hate it. It isn’t fair.”

“Well, our lives are dangerous. So I’m all for learning to defend yourself. But come on – in… in the med pod, you saved me just as much as I saved you. And the same with the Chitauri virus – if you hadn’t developed the vaccine—“

“Anti-serum,” she corrected quietly.

“Anti-serum, it wouldn’t have mattered whether either I or Ward could get to you. And as for Maveth… well, you stayed alive. That was your job. If you’d been the one with all the resources of S.H.I.E.L.D. available to you and I was the one stuck on the planet, I’m not sure I’d have lasted till you got me home, even though you’d have figured it out in half the time. So you see all those times you thought I was saving you, really we were doing what we do – we were working the problem together.” Fitz spoke with fervent conviction, and Simmons felt tears threatening as Fitz’s words and eyes spoke of his belief in not only her own abilities, but in their shared connection. When he finished, she gave him a blinding smile and pulled him into a hug that he whole-heartedly returned.

“Do you remember when you used to be the surly one and I was the one who had to give motivational speeches?” she asked, chuckling a bit.

“Well, maybe it’s just my turn,” he replied. Simmons suddenly pulled back as a thought struck her.

“Wait – everything you just said was very nice, but I still don’t see why it’s so surprising that I would want combat training. You admitted yourself it’s a good idea.” To her surprise, Fitz started blushing and pulling away from her.

“Oh, it’s nothing – suppose it just hadn’t occurred to me,” he muttered evasively, fleeing back towards his own workstation. Jemma narrowed her eyes.

“Fitz, come on, what aren’t you telling me?” she asked suspiciously, pursuing him across the room.

“Nothing!” he insisted, wide-eyed and entirely unconvincing. “It’s just…” he paused, eyes pleading with Jemma to drop the matter, but she just stared him down. “It’s not that I was surprised as such, I only… well, I was taken aback a bit. The thought of you in combat training, getting all sweaty and… well… I suppose it’s pretty…” he paused, his brain flailing for any word other than the obvious one, and when it inevitably failed, he sheepishly concluded “sexy.” Simmons blinked in surprise. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to… to objectify you or… or make you uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have said anything. Can we pretend the last five minutes never happened?”

“I didn’t know you really thought I was… was sexy,” Simmons murmured, taken aback by his admission. Fitz, who had turned to his work in humiliation, shot her an exasperated glare over his shoulder.

“I don’t talk about it anymore, but I thought by now it was fairly clear that I’m in love with you,” he pointed out.

“No, I know, I mean… I don’t know what I mean. I suppose it’s just that you’re so kind, and loving, and supportive, but aside from the one time you kissed me, you’ve never really… tried anything.” Fitz turned back around to face her, resigning himself to actually hashing this out.

“I was being respectful,” he said quietly. “I didn’t think you were interested in me like that, and I didn’t want you to feel like your best friend was leering at you all the time.”

“Well I did kiss you back. And before that I’d agreed to a dinner-date – didn’t you think that maybe suggested I was also interested?”

“Everything’s been more than a little bit complicated since then. And... and after Will.. well, I mean look at me. I’m no astronaut,” he muttered, reaching up to rub the back of his neck before he remembered the lingering nitrogen burn and winced. Simmons frowned.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that – you shouldn’t compare yourself to anyone. You’re very handsome, I’ve always thought so. And…” Simmons blushed, working up the courage to force herself to keep going. “For the record, I’ve always thought you were sexy in combat gear too.”

“You what?” Fitz exclaimed in surprise.

“I remember when you got back from your mission with Ward, back in our early days on the Bus, and you walked onto the plane all confident and successful – I didn’t really let myself think about it at the time, but I had this sudden impulse to throw myself at you. I told myself it was just the adrenaline from all the excitement at the Hub.”

“I’m sure that’s what it was,” Fitz suggested.

“It wasn’t,” Jemma insisted. She looked into her best friend’s face and saw that he was already starting to manage his own expectations, to quell any fragments of hope she was giving him. It was the same thing any time they started to talk about their relationship – he was so convinced she would hurt him that he shut down the conversation before she had a chance to tell him what she felt. And she let him, because it was easier to return to the familiar – but perhaps the time for the safe option was coming to an end.

She reached for him, pulling him closer with one hand on his shoulder and the other cupping his jaw. He bent down as she indicated, but was already starting to stammer hesitant protests when her lips met his. Her tongue darted slightly into his open mouth, and he jumped, pulling his mouth from hers to take a surprised gasp before he pulled her closer, both hands pressing her close, fervently returning increasingly fevered kisses. Jemma sank into his embrace with a peculiar feeling of vindication and relief – she was ashamed to admit that she’d sometimes doubted in the past whether Fitz was capable of this kind of pure, overwhelming, physical passion – and if he was, how she would react to it. As it turned out, snogging Fitz was rather like bickering with him used to be, only so much better – it was exciting, and addictive, and it made her feel like they were the only two people in the world.

When at length they parted, both gasping for breath, rather than move away Fitz kept his forehead pressed against hers, his eyes squeezed shut. “Was that… was that ok?” he whispered. Jemma laughed. Fitz winced, but she soothed him with another soft kiss.

“I think we did a little better than ok,” she said, and smiled when his eyes opened, shining in relief.

“So… so what does this mean?” he ventured.

“It means that when we’re ready to be more than what we are now, we know we’ve got something to look forward to,” Jemma replied, smiling. Fitz thought that over for a moment and nodded. “And in the meantime,” she continued, “I might have to kiss you again occasionally. You know – as a reminder.” By the time she finished, Fitz was also smiling.

“I think I’d be ok with that,” he murmured, moving forward. “Maybe just one more to make sure. Before our minions come back.”

“If you must,” Jemma sighed happily, already leaning forward in anticipation.

 


End file.
